NEW YORK.-Finally crystallized the return to action of the Dominican guard Chris Duarte with the Indiana Pacers in Sunday’s game against the New York Knicks, and his performance has been classified as somewhat discreet.
Duarte (ankle) finished with six points (2-5 FG, 0-2 3Pt, 2-5 FT) and two rebounds in 15 minutes in Sunday’s 109-106 loss to the New Yorkers.
Although he was placed on a playing time restriction making his first appearance for Indiana in over a month and a half due to a sprained left ankle, Duarte may not see his minutes increase dramatically while the Pacers have their full rotation. clue.
“I really think that little by little I will take my usual rhythm of the game,” said Duarte. “I worked hard on my recovery and thank God, I’m back.”
Before getting injured, Duarte averaged 19.7 minutes per game in his first nine appearances of the 2022-23 campaign.
Duarte’s playing time this season has been affected by the arrivals of Bennedict Mathurin and Andrew Nembhard via draft and Aaron Nesmith via trade.
Pacers coach Rick Carlisle hopes the player from Quito can bring depth and quality to the team like he did in his rookie season.
Worked
— Good in the G League
For the second time in the past week, Duarte was part of the starting five for the Fort Wayne Mad Ants of the G League, a subsidiary of the Pacers, and saw action for 34 minutes scoring 17 points and grabbing six rebounds.